Kimi Antonelli beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the United States Grand Prix to boost his chances of sealing a maiden world championship in Sunday's race.

The 20-year-old Mercedes driver is all but certain to become Formula 1's youngest ever champion but could clinch the title with five rounds to spare if he wins in Austin on Sunday and other placings go his way.

It was perhaps the most unlikely of Antonelli's seven poles this season as he came from nowhere in Q3 to surge ahead of Verstappen, who had appeared for most of the weekend to be battling Ferrari for the front-row positions.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar equalled his best qualifying result by taking third, leaving Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fourth and fifth, respectively.

George Russell will start from sixth, with the Brit needing to finish in the top eight to ensure Antonelli won't be crowned champion if he wins on Sunday. Hamilton would also need to finish fifth or lower in the event of an Antonelli victory for the title to be confirmed.

Oscar Piastri took seventh ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris as the latter was demoted from sixth after having his final effort deleted for breaching track limits.

Racing Bulls took the final two top-10 places but Liam Lawson will inherit ninth from his team-mate Arvid Lindblad, who has a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine component allowance.

More to follow...